Old Wrestler is a story about old age and the fleeting nature of life in the public eye. A retired wrestler tries to use his memory during an event to which he was invited to his hometown. Although for those present at the event he is a wrestling legend and a symbol of the town, the old man is preoccupied with completely different matters. He tries to get up but can’t. He tries to remember the name of the familiar face, but the words have evaporated from his memory. He keeps forgetting where he is and instead sinks deeper and deeper into the memories of his youth.
Although the wrestler has sacrificed his youth and health for sporting achievement – you’ll be blown away by the wrestler’s confession about his trainer “strengthening” his forehead by hitting it with a golf club or an ashtray – there is no reward in old age. Thanks to the wrestler’s achievements, his town gained the necessary bridge or road, but the wrestler himself lived his career as if in a trance, trapped between trainings, trips and fights. Old Wrestler shows that fame in sports is often overestimated by those who do not participate in it. It is also a book about the fact that those who strive for perfection burn like moths in the light of their own fame.
The Yeoyu series is a collection of mini books featuring short stories and novellas. Yeoyu (여유) means a place or space, and in this case, the space of free self-discovery, a place where you can breathe and feel at ease. True to its name, the series presents the texts of some of the most interesting Korean writers, often experimental, surprising and unusual. Its counterpart presenting writers from Japan is Keshiki.
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